New Delhi, June 2 
The stand-off between New Delhi and Beijing over shipping and maritime rights in the South China sea took a new turn today when Defence Minister AK Antony said “large parts of the common seas cannot be declared exclusive to any one country or group.” 

“It is important to reaffirm the importance of maritime security and freedom of navigation for all. This should be in accordance with relevant universally agreed principles of international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” Antony said while speaking at the 11th Asia Security Summit in Singapore.

China is trying to control the sea for its exclusive use much to the chagrin of India, Japan and the US. Beijing has twice threatened Delhi that it should pull out state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Videsh Limited (OVL) from an off-shore oil block near Vietnam. 

Separately, INS Airavaat had a mid-sea ‘brushing incident’ with a Chinese vessel in September last year in the same region. Ignoring Chinese threats, a flotilla of four Indian warships passed through the South China sea two weeks ago on way to South Korea to take part in a military exercise. 

“Unlike in the previous centuries, maritime freedoms cannot be an exclusive prerogative of a few,” said Antony at the summit. “Maritime freedoms can be realised only when all states, big and small, are willing to abide by universally agreed laws and principles,” he said in a clear reference to China.

Later, Antony termed China’s huge defence spending as a “matter of concern.” China has a defence budget of $106 billion while India lags far behind with just $ 8.6 billion being allocated to its military needs in the current fiscal. 

The Defence Minister said the two Asian giants were trying to work towards peace and stability. He gave the example of growing cooperation between India and China to fight piracy.